Egg-carrier.



F. KRONENBERGER- .v EGG CARRIER.

v j APPucATmN FILED Aue.9. ma. nfusws APR. 9, |911. 1,237,345.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

UNITED STATES PATNT FERDINAND KRONENBERGER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK7 .ASSIGNOR TO FREDERIC B. CLARK, OF ENGLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY.

EGG-CARRIER,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2li, i917.

Application led August 9, 1913, Serial No. 783,861. Renewed April 9. 1917. Serial No. 160,888.

T all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, FERDINAND KRONEN- BERGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Egg-Carrier, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an egg carrier, the same being intended for use in the shipment of eggs, although it is manifest that devices embodying the invention may be used in the transportation of other substances, such as fruits and vegetables, which are liable to become bruised or otherwise injured by rough handling thereof during shipment.

The object of the invention is to paclr eggs, or other commodities, in such manner that theyare retained under pressure and in predetermined positions notwithstanding` the jolting and jarring which' they ieceive due to handling the same and while in transit.

The invention is embodied in an article supporting sheet or y layer provided with rows of pockets for the reception of the articles, the bottom of each vpocket being slitted to produce yieldable members.

A series of lthese supporting sheets or layers are employed in conjunction with a series of cell cases, the layers and the cell cases being stacked and arranged in such order that the cell cases operate to separate the layers for the purpose of accommodating the larticles between such layers whereby the cooperating layers and cell cases act to exert pressure upon the articles and to retain them so securely in position that eggs cannot become broken nor canthe articles be injured even though subjectedto. rough usage..

An important function secured by the use of ce'll cases in conjunction with the slitted sheets is that the strips of the vcell cases are positioned in contact with the sheets" between the rows of pockets therein, whereby the cell cases act as stays or' reinforcements for the sheets, and enable me to use sheets of comparatively thin and inexpensive material, thus securing economy in the manufacture of articles embodying the invention.

@ther features of the invention, and the advantages thereof, will appear from the :following detailed description.

In the drawings,

Figure l is a vertical section through a portion of an article carrier, illustrating the article supporting sheets and the cell cases arranged in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical detail section through a portion of one of the article supporting sheets prior to bending the fiexible members formed by the slitted bottom of the pocket therein, the dotted lines illustrating the displacement of the yieldable members at the bottom of the pocket due to the pressure of the article positioned within the Pocket. y

F ig. 3y is a yplan viewillustrating the relation of one cell case to the rows of pockets in an article supporting sheet.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one form of the cell case which may be employed.

A. salient feature of the present invention is an article supporting sheet or layer A provided with rows of pockets B B. Each sheet is formed by a suitable press or other machine so as to produce the pockets therein simultaneously', each pocket being of the form shown more particularly in Figs. 2 and 3. The pocket consists of 'a permanently depressed portion ZJ, the bottom of which is slitted at b so as to result in a series of yieldable members b2.' Xs shown, the slits Z2 extend radially from the center of the pocket to the permanent-ly depressed portion Z) thereof, but it is preferred that the slit shall not extend into said permanently depressed portion b of the pocket, nor to the body portion of' the sheet. The pockets are of suitable size to accommodate the articles to be supported on the sheet, and the pockets are arranged in rows extending in two directions across the sheet, there being a substantially imperforate portion c of the sheet between the pockets of adjacent rows.

The sheet A may consist of any material suitable for the purpose, but it is preferred to employ sheets ofpaper, or paper board, or press board, or card board, such as is ordinarily used in the manufacture of egg carrying cell cases; but in my invention the article supporting sheets are so reinforced and stayed by the coperation of the cell cases therewith that l am enabled to employ comparatively thin and very' inexpensive material in the manufacture of the article supporting sheets; in fact, a comparatively thin sheet of paper can be used to good advantage, whereby economy is effected in the manufacture of devices embodying the invention.

C designates an ordinary cell case consisting of intersecting strips CZ ai assembled and united in the ordinary way. The members composing the cell case are positioned corresponding to the imperforate spaces c intervening the pockets of the article supporting sheet, and when the sheets and cell cases are assembled within a casing the members (l CZ of the cell cases Contact with the imperforate parts 0 of the sheets or layers A substantially as shown in Figs. l and 3, whereby said members (Z d of the cell cases act as stays or reinforcements to the article supporting sheets, thus precluding the article supporting sheets from bending under the weight and pressure of the articles which occupy the pockets B B of the sheets.

A mode of using the sheets A and cell cases C is illustrated in Fig. 1, wherein D designates an ordinary 'packing case within which the pocket formed sheets and the cell cases .are piled or stacked substantially as shown. It is preferred to employ cell cases C C2 at the top and bottom of the packing case D, which cell cases C C2 are each onehalf the depth of the ordinary cell cases C employed between the layers or sheets A. The cell case C is placed upon the bottom of packing case D and thereafter aV layer or sheet A is placed upon said cell case C so that the intersecting members thereof will Contact with the imperforate part c of said sheet. The eggs or other articles are now placed upon sheet A so as to occupy the pockets B B therein, and thereafter another sheet or layer A is placed upon the articles supported by the first sheet. A cell case C is now placed upon the second sheet A, and thereafter a third sheet A is placed upon the second cell case C. The second layer of articles is now placed upon the third sheet, and

these operations are repeated until the desired number of sheets or layers and cell cases with the articles intervening the adjoining layers shall have been packed within case D, and finally the narrow cell case C2 is placed upon the topmost sheet A. The sheets and the cell cases are assembled within the packing case so that the articles between the sheets will be confined under pressure, it being found that eggs will withstand considerable pressure when they are placed on end so that the stress is lengthwise of the eggs. The weight and pressure of the articles occupying the pockets of the sheets A depresses the yieldable members b2 to substantially the dotted line position of Fig. 2. The permanently depressed pockets b enable the articles to be placed easily and quickly without particular attention to the manner of depositing them in the pockets, said depressions Z) acting in a way to centralize the articles deposited into the pockets of the sheets. The articles thus rest upon the permanently depressed portion Z) and the yieldable members of the slitted bottom in the pockets, whereby the articles may be easily and quickly placed in position with the same facility as exists in placing the articles within the cells of the ordinary'cell case, andthe articles are retained securely in position, the pressure of the articles upon the slitted bottoms tending to grip the articles so as to preclude any movement or displacement thereof relative to the pockets in the sheets.

The sheets are pressed and slitted at one operation to produce the pockets with slitted bottoms, suitable machinery being employed for this purpose. The quantity of material required in my article carrier does not exceed the material used in the ordinary egg carrier, and owing to the fact that I may employ comparatively thin or inexpensive material in the manufacture of the slitted and pocket sheets, the cost of producing the required number of sheets for use in conjunction with the cell cases is less than the cost of manufacture of the ordinary stiff cardboard used as separators between the cell cases of egg carriers.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the sheets and cell cases can be easily and quickly assembled and the articles placed with great ease and facility upon the sheets and within the pockets thereof. The articles do not occupy the cell cases for the reason that the articles are held at top and bottom within the pockets of adjacent sheets, but. these cell cases coperate with the sheets for the purpose of separating them and for the purpose of reinforcing or staying the sheets. This reinforcement of the sheets is an important factor in View of the presence of the slitted pockets in the sheets. The operation of depressing the paper to form the pockets and of slittting the paper at the bottom of the pockets has a tendency to weaken the sheets owing to the cuts produced by the slits; but the employment of the cell cases and the relation of the cell cases to the sheets so as to contact with imperforate parts of the sheets between .the rows of pockets tends to so stay or reinforce the sheets that the articles can not break through the slitted bottoms of the pockets and tear the sheets at the imperforate part c thereof.

It will be understood that the articles are held under pressure between adjacent sheets and thus any movement or displacement of the articles cannot take place, whereby eggs, fruits, and other substances or articles can be .safely transported without breaking or bruising the same, even though subjected to rough handling or usage during transportation.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new7 and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

bottom of ksaid pocket being slitted, said oisetrim operating to position the article within the pocket and the slitted bottom being yieldable to the article under pressure applied to said member.

2. In a device of the class described, an article engaging member comprising a'lat sheet or layer provided at intervals with permanently offset pockets operating to position articles therein, the bottom of each pocket being formed with normally closed spring members yieldable to the articles under pressure applied to the sheet or layer.

3. In a device of the class described, an article engaging member provided With rows of permanently offset pockets operating to retain the articles positioned therein, the central portion of each pocket being slitted and producing al series of spring members yieldable to the article under pressure applied to the member.

4. In an article carrier, the combination of a plurality of cell cases and a plurality of article-supporting sheets assembled in superposed order for said cell cases to exert pressure upon said sheets, each sheet being provided With rows of pockets the bottoms of Which are slitted, and said cell cases being assembled for the cells thereof to be in alinement vertically and for the edges thereof to contact with the sheets in the intervals between the pockets therein, said slitted bottoms of the pockets in the sheets being yieldable to the pressure of articles positioned in said pockets so that the slitted portions are deflected out of the plane of the sheet and extend into the cells of said cell case in contact with the sheets.

5. In an article carrier, the combination of a plurality of cell cases and a plurality of article-supporting sheets assembled in superposed order with said cell cases in contact With the sheets for exerting pressure upon said sheets and upon articles retained between the same, said cell cases being positioned With the cells of one cell case in register With the cells in adjacent cell cases, said sheets being provided With pockets the bottoms of which are slitted so as to yield under pressure of the articles and to extend into the cells in register with said pockets.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FERDINAND KRONENBERGER. `Witnesses M. C. RODRIGUEZ, I-I. I. BERNHARD. 

